


Lovely

by things-we-used-tc-share (Heavydirtys0ul)



Series: the billie eilish tapes [8]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, abuse tw, bullying tw, violence tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22654597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heavydirtys0ul/pseuds/things-we-used-tc-share
Summary: He ran by accident into the lives of three men, he stayed completely purposefully.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton/Deceit Sanders
Series: the billie eilish tapes [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1281875
Kudos: 26





	Lovely

* * *

**"Isn't it lovely, all alone?**

**Heart made of glass,**

**My mind of stone,**

**Tear me to pieces,**

**Skin and bone,**

**Hello, welcome home,"**

**-Lovely, Billie Eilish ft Khalid.**

* * *

Patton leans against the brick wall with a look on his face that is nothing short of withdrawn, leaning into the brickwork and feeling it’s rough surface dig against his skin. His breath is short, inhaling and exhaling like the density of air is far too heavy for his small body to process; but it matters very little. In a second he’s on the floor, a hefty jab to his stomach and the jeering faces of boys who love to pretend they’re men. He doesn’t defend himself; he allows them to hit him.

He tries to drag himself back onto shaky needs but only a short cry escapes him, his bones feeling like glass as blood drips over his freckled skin. “Christ,” he hears a short murmur, then warm skin against his own, hands helping him to his feet; four hands all together. “What happened to you kid?” Patton opens his mouth and no sound dares reach out of his exhausted vocal chords. “Here, come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” He can see scars on the back of one of the hands holding him up, but his vision is blurry; Patton stumbles forward two steps before his vision starts to blur. “Maybe we should take him to the hospital, Ro,”

“No…can’t…can’t afford,” Patton mumbles, finally finding a voice, his words are met with a curse and some sort of grumble, before he blacks out completely.

\--

When Patton comes too again there is a cold pressure to his forehead and three worried faces staring at him. Half of his body feels numb, like he’d just been pumped full of enough paracetamol to knock out a horse, the rest in an aching agony. He opens his mouth and closes it, lips trembling as he tries to speak, only to find a gentle hand rest over his own. “Take it easy kid, you’re not in all that good of a shape,” Patton recognises the man, his face scarred down the left side in unmissable burns; his blonde hair framing his thin face or at least what isn’t tied up in a haphazard bun.

“’m not a kid,” Patton felt the need to inform him “’m eighteen,” The man chuckles lightly, his smile not unkind but most certainly amused. “You’re Damian, right? You live at the end of my street,”

“The one, the only,” The injured man finds it in him to smile a little, glad to be in a familiar place; the other two strangers still peer at him curiously. “This is Roman, and this is Logan, Logan patched you up, thank the gods for med students hm?” The other’s wave in co-ordination to the declarations of their names. The first, Roman, has brilliantly red hair that sticks up fashionably yet messily, his green eyes piercing and freckled pale skin curiously beautiful. The second, Logan, has jet black hair that is a little tangled and curling past his honey-coloured eyes, his skin brown, his smile unsure as he offers a socially awkward wave, he is equally stunning, and Patton wonders if he'd hit his head a little too hard and woken up in heaven.

“Sorry to be…here,” Patton uttered finally, once he’d done registering the three of them “I don’t mean to intrude,” He sits up slowly but it’s still far too fast as a sharp pain shoots through the right side of his body; he inhales sharply, raising a hand to the pressure on his skull. “Thank you for patching me up, though, Logan, I really appreciate it, but I should go…”

“Nonsense!” Roman interjects, huffing a little, “My dear damsel, you are awfully bruised up, and Logan said that you shouldn’t be alone for the first few hours so that he can make sure there is no lasting damage that would require a…”

“Roman,” Damian interjects, raising an eyebrow, he gestures downwards a little “Tone it down, you’re terrifying the poor boy,” the newcomer is, indeed, blinking in a perturbed fashion as Roman realises he is gesturing rather extravagantly in attempt to convey his point. He makes himself a little smaller in retaliation to the flicker of worry at every sudden movement. “What he means is that you’re in no state to be wandering off, honestly, you are no bother nor burden, I’d rather you interrupt my evening than find out you passed out in a drainpipe tomorrow,” He chuckles “Roman has a tea assortment, I’m sure he’s got one for soreness,” There’s a small wink that Patton does not miss, neither does Logan as he rolls his eyes at the two of them and shuffles around the sofa to peer curiously at the injured man.

“Where does it hurt?” He asks, his voice deep and quiet and full of the care that all healthcare professionals seem to be born with. Roman disappears, assumedly to make tea, whilst Damian busies himself with the TV.

“My head mostly but when I move, I get sharp pains,” Logan nods as though he’s expecting this answer. “I can’t afford to go to the hospital,” The curly-haired man glances down at his own scratches and grazes.

“Luckily you don’t need too, this time anyway,” The other leans up to peel away the ice compress and gaze with a satisfied hum at the graze “Painkillers,” He hands Patton the bottle. “Two every four hours, it’s all I got, try to avoid picking any fights with brick walls in the meantime,” His smile is both worried and amused, it’s a comfortable look that makes Patton feel somewhat whole. “And if those idiots persist on hurting you, you should come here, you’re safe here,” Damian looks up from the TV at the words, meeting their eyes before he nods in agreement.

“I don’t like seeing small people get beat up,” The blonde hums, he gestures loosely to the burn scars. It says all that needs to be said. Patton wonders if Damian was ever truly small, looking at him now he certainly does not look like the sort of person to pick a fight with. “Besides, we could do with somewhere here to keep Logan entertained intellectually, I get the distinct feeling he’s getting tired of fraternising with morons,” A teasing giggle brushes the med student’s lips, his expression half in agreement and the other half so utterly in _love_. _Oh_. The situation sinks in and the smallest inhales sharply, his hand wavering to cover his mouth, but it just sorts of freezes halfway.

“Oh, I’m so intruding,” he whispers in horror, Damian laughs; clear and crisp and it rumbles in his chest like a tiny thunderstorm. “I didn’t realise!” Patton splutters “How long have you all been together?” A cup of tea is placed in his hand, Roman curls up at the bottom of the couch with his own cup.

“I met Damian in third grade, and we were inseparable from the get-go,” Roman sighed dreamily.

“He harassed me until I took a stupid flower off of him,” Damian corrected. “Logan is a recent addition,”

“He needed someone to stitch up his wounds,” Logan hums idly, his smile dry but hiding a whole lot of emotion. “Someone couldn’t stay out of trouble, ever,” Patton watches as Logan and Damian lock eyes and grin like they’re reliving a memory. “But you needn’t worry, we’re not trying to recruit further lovers, we’re just…”

“It’s a familiar situation,” The blonde cuts in, simply, honestly. “I understand what it feels like to be outrunning hell, and I want to extend to you a kindness I never quite got,” He shrugs “You’re welcome here as long as you need it, and if you ever want them dealt with…” Logan shoots the other a warning look.

“Then we can file a police report, and legally deal with them,” He interjects forcefully.

“Or beat the shit out of them!” Roman adds, far too cheerfully. Patton finds it hard to take that cheeky smile and adorably freckled cheeks seriously, instead he just smiles back shyly and nods.

“Alright then,”

\--

He does end up running into their lives again, hammering at the front door furiously until he’s dragged inside, the door slammed shut and locked behind him at lightning speed. Roman rubs his back as Patton’s stomach lurches from the sheer amount of energy put into running to his new safe place, but he walks away un-bruised.

This happens several times, after the seventh he falls asleep on Damian’s couch, wakes up the next morning with a blanket over his small body and pillow under his head. The ninth he falls asleep on Logan and wakes up to find they’d all relocated to the floor in a pillow fort. The tenth time he begins to understand what it’s like to not feel alone, to want to see someone, to have your heart thunder when you think of someone’s smile. By the twelfth time he’s honestly dreading them witnessing his heart eyes in real time.

After work, he finds them waiting for him, the boys who had attacked him. He takes a step back, the layout of the town already flashing through his head as he turns and takes off in the other direction. He scrambles down back alleyways, his muscles screeching for him to stop, his lunch turning over in his stomach. All he can think of is Roman’s freckles and Logan’s smile and Damian’s soft scars, he thinks about home as a word and finds it’s synonymous with the first people to ever offer him one. The door is unlocked for him as he darts in, he slams the lock shut behind him and slides down the wall.

“Welcome home,” His eyes meet Roman’s, who offers him a hand and helps him to the feet “Not even a scratch this time,” The proud lilt has Patton grinning weakly. “He’s home boys!” Roman’s hand squeezes his own, Patton follows him like a lost puppy “And in one piece!” Logan rolls his eyes, a book in one hand and a mug of hot chocolate in the other, Damian has a cup of coffee waiting for the smaller boy.

“Congrats,” The scarred man chuckles dryly “The chicken’s burning by the way,” Roman curses and darts off to save dinner, it’s domestic and familiar and for the first time in his life Patton feels comfortable and safe.

Like he’s _home_.


End file.
